The work of Ambroise Tardieu: the first definitive description of child abuse

The first important monograph describing the battered child syndrome was written in 1860 by Ambroise Tardieu, a French forensic physician. Here is a translation of his article, published in the Annales d'hygiene publique et de medecine legale, with the title "Etude medico-legale sur les sevices et mauvais traitements exerces sur des enfants." The first part of his article is entirely translated. A brief summary of the 32 cases report described by Tardieu in the second part of his article is presented.     

Longing for a Better World: Hope in Professional Practices

ABSTRACT

Christians are called to be a witness to the coming of the Kingdom of God and to cultivate practices in which peace and justice may flourish. In order to serve God in their daily work, Christians are faced with situations that cause both hope and despair. In this article, we explore what the concept of hope means for the education of Christian professionals. How does hope help them to fulfill their professional duty, especially in situations in which perseverance and courage are needed? We first elaborate on what Snyder (1994 Snyder, C. R. (1994). The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. New York, NY: Free Press. [Google Scholar]), one of the founding fathers of the field of positive psychology, wrote about hope. However interesting Snyder's ideas may be, we contend that the project-based attitude to the future that guides his research does not help us to develop a full understanding of the ambiguities and urgencies of professional practice. According to the scholarship of Schön (1991 Schön, D. A. (1991). The reflective practitioner. How professionals think in action. Farnham, England: Ashgate. [Google Scholar]) and Bourdieu (1998 Bourdieu, P. (1998). Practical reason. On the theory of action. Cambridge, England: Polity Press. [Google Scholar]), hope has been described as the active anticipation of a future state of affairs. Because hope anticipates a reality that does not yet exist, it always is a risky enterprise. To use a colloquial expression, we can never be sure whether or not we are betting on the wrong horse. Kelsey (2009 Kelsey, D. H. (2009). Eccentric existence. A theological anthropology. Louisville, KY: WJK. [Google Scholar]) reflected on hope from a theological-anthropological perspective. He argued that hope is always a response to something that is eccentric to humankind. Professionals do not bring hope themselves, but rather orient themselves to something that transcends the horizon of human existence. From a Christian point of view, hope is grounded in the community with the living God.     

The efficiency of information transmission of sign and spoken language

Rhe study compares sign and oral language in terms of information transmission efficiency. The sample consisted of 36 hearing people with no knowledge of sign language and 36 deaf people reasonably fluent in sign language. (The deaf participants' level of hearing loss ranged from severe to profound.) Oral and sign language comprehension was assessed by means of texts at three different difficulty levels. After being exposed to the texts, the study participants had to tell what they had understood about them, answer a set of related questions, and offer a title for each text. When the hearing group's comprehension of oral versions of the texts was compared to the deaf group's comprehension of signed versions, the deaf group showed better comprehension of the explicit content of the texts but added more invented content and made more errors.     

Latinx students’ experiences with college access and preparation at college preparatory charter schools

Charter schools that target underserved communities, including Latinxs, have proliferated in the U.S., claiming a unique, more autonomous and successful alternative to traditional public schools, often with a promise of increased postsecondary access and preparation. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding their effectiveness on academic outcomes, prompting additional research on charter schools. This study examined the college access and preparation experiences of 14 Latinxs attending college preparatory charter schools within one school system in Texas. Findings highlight how schools assisted students in preparing for college, but challenges in accessing college knowledge and assistance still existed, particularly for undocumented students.     

AIDA: a methodology independent support tool for educational software authoring

Many authoring tools have been proposed in an attempt to find more effective ways to face the challenge of developing educational software. However, most of them are reported to be restrictive, since they are strongly connected to a specific educational software development methodology. The AIDA (Ambiente Integrado para o Desenvolvimento de Aplicações educacionais) authoring environment was developed at the University of Coimbra having as its main objectives the support of most of the activities involved in authoring and making educational software development easier. The AIDA system is based on a design module, i.e. a prototyping tool allowing the creation of Windows-based software, including multimedia features. The system assists evaluation activities and it caters also for support on translation and cultural adaptation, as well as on the reutilization of educational materials. The use of the AIDA environment is illustrated by three small examples using different development methodologies.     

Origins of individual differences in theory of mind: from nature to nurture?

In this study of the origins of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM), the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study sample of 1,116 sixty-month-old twin pairs completed a comprehensive battery of ToM tasks. Individual differences in ToM were striking and strongly associated with verbal ability. Behavioral genetic models of the data showed that environmental factors explained the majority of the variance in ToM performance in this sample. Shared environmental influences on verbal ability had a common impact on ToM and explained more than half the phenotypic correlation between these two skills. Possible underlying proximal mechanisms are discussed, including maternal speech and mind-mindedness, sibling interactions, and peer influences.